I wanted to
do this trip because it had been quite some time since I carried a heavy pack
and I needed some practice and training before my son, Matthew, and I
undertake the South Coast Track walk in November this year.

The Plan

I planned to
walk from Cockle Creek to South Cape Rivulet on Saturday 14/9/02, camp the
night at the camp site there and walk back to Cockle Creek on Sunday 15/9/02.

I
deliberately did not try to limit what I took because the pack needed to
roughly duplicate what I would be carrying for up to 10 days in November
(apart from the extra food, of course). Also, with two people we would be able
to share the weight to some extent. Therefore, when I had packed everything on
Saturday morning it weighed 25kgs, including 2 litres of water. I thought,
“Yep, that should be heavy enough!”

Day 1 - 14/9/02

The drive
down to Cockle Creek took me about 2 hours and, by the time I had changed into
walking gear and stretched, I started the walk at 11.30am.

At the
Registration Shelter I recorded my intentions in the book and noticed that 2
people had earlier written that they intended running to Shoemaker Bay and
back. I was convinced they would be on their way back before I had finished my
walking for the day and kept in mind they could come upon me suddenly.

The walk itself was very pleasant,
gently undulating and a good surface for walking. There is quite a lot of
duck-boarding that takes the pressure off the vegetation but the temptation
for me was to travel a bit more quickly than I perhaps should have.

The weather
was very kind, no wind, sunny and temperature about 18oC
(I guessed). I was amused
to hear a bird calling a wolf-whistle and looked round to see what the fuss
was about. Unfortunately, I did not see the bird even though I passed very
close to it and therefore don’t know what it was.

I met several
young blokes heading back away from the coast with surfboards. I asked them if
there was much surf – but the answer was obvious because of the direction they
were travelling. They all had very light clothing and no supplies.

At Lion Rock
a decision normally needs to be made whether to clamber along the rocks at sea
level or to take the inland route that takes you over several headlands and
can be quite boggy in parts. The downside to the shore route is that in heavy
seas or at times of high tide the danger of being swept out to sea is always
present. As low tide (in Hobart on 14/9) was at about 9.45am the tide was on
the way in so I did not need any convincing to take the inland route.

Walking along
towards Lion Rock I met the two runners, who by this stage were walking
towards me. We stopped to have a chat. They had not crossed South Cape Rivulet
as the water level was too high and they asked me if I was going to cross it. When I said I
was only going as far as South Cape Rivulet to stay the night the female said
it would be very nice as there was nobody else there when they turned back.

On the inland
route only in a few places was the mud thick enough to cover my boots.
However, extra care was needed to avoid slipping over on the steeper muddy
parts of the track.

On the final
downward slope to South Cape Bay I noticed a black snake (probably a tiger
snake) coiled about dinner plate size at the left side of the track.

The body
I guessed was about 40 – 50mm thick. It was in a patch of sunlight, soaking up
the warmth. Detouring around was not an option as the track was narrow, with
thick undergrowth so I put my pack down about 3m away, got out the
camera and took a photo of it. Stamping on the ground did not encourage it to
move so I decided to walk past it and hope not to disturb it unduly. However,
to my surprise, as I drew level with it the snake rapidly moved away into the
bush. Its movement gave me a bit of a start but with the heavy pack I was not
very agile. I had theorised about the “strike height” of the snake, as it
would have had to reach up above my boots and gaiters to find soft flesh.

Before I
arrived at South Cape Rivulet I saw the sign warning of the unpredictability
of the water flows at the rivulet, with the sea washing up the beach and then
the rush of water back out to sea, combined with the natural flow of the
rivulet. The sign also warned of the possibility of drowning and recommended
waiting at least 15 minutes to observe the water flow pattern.

On arriving
at the rivulet at about 3.15pm I made straight for the camp site to get my
pack off and set up my tent, just in case it should rain. However, the weather
remained pleasantly warm, with no wind and a clear blue sky. Perfect. I found a
flat, sandy spot near the bank overlooking the rivulet and noticed some
rubbish lying around, including an old, dirty, wet towel. Not a good
advertisement for bushwalkers.

When I had
organised my tent I went down to the rivulet to have a look at water
conditions. I was particularly interested as Matthew and I will be walking
from west to east (the other direction) in November. Somebody had planted a
long pole each side of the rivulet, presumably indicating where a successful
crossing had previously been made. I thought it would not be a pleasant
experience to cross anywhere at that time. The water was dark with tannin and
it was obviously not possible to establish how deep the channel was. Even
though a slight breeze was coming roughly from the north or north west, water
was surging up the rivulet then draining rapidly back out to sea between
breaking waves. I was glad I did not have to make a decision on if, when and where
to cross.

[I think the
plan for November will be to take a rope with us so that we will be able to
drag our packs across after us as we wade (or swim) the rivulet while holding
the rope. Conditions may very well be different by the time we reach that
point in our proposed walk back from Melaleuca. Just a thought.]

As I was
walking alongside the rivulet I noticed a low, flat rock near the edge of the
water that was frequently covered as the flow came and went. I saw what I
thought was a carved groove in a circular shape on the top surface, about 100mm across. The groove was about 20mm wide. It looked as though it had been
carved by human activity rather than being the effect of water washing stones
or gravel in a circular motion. I took a photo and looked around for any more
like that. None was visible, but this particular rock may have been uncovered
completely at some time in the past. It may have some Aboriginal cultural
significance.

I tasted
the water about 50m from the mouth of the rivulet and was pleasantly
surprised to discover no salty taste. Just to be safe I only used the rivulet
water to cook my pasta meal, not for my hot chocolate. After a pleasant feed I
got into my sleeping bag at about 6.30pm intending to listen to the football
on the small radio I had brought. Very crackly reception of 3BG (I think) so
gave that idea away. I was asleep before 7.00pm and had a very pleasant night,
only waking twice at noises (unknown) outside. I obviously needed the sleep.

Day 2 - 15/9/02

Woke at about
6.30am to the sound of birds calling. When I dressed and left the tent it was
still quite cold so I put on my balaclava and Windstopper jacket to go for a
walk and get my muscles working again. I found a length of rope near some
bushes so coiled it up and hung it over a short branch of a tree, in view of
the rivulet, in case it is needed by a walker at a later date.

I saw more
rubbish that had clearly been washed up on the beach from fishing boats –
broken buoy, netting, rope, plastic bottles. I decided to carry out as much of
this as I could when I left later on Sunday. I gathered up the rubbish I found
and put it into a spare plastic bag, ready to be carried out.

Breakfast
consisted of 1½ packets of instant porridge with a chopped banana, washed down
with hot chocolate. I cleaned up the Trangia with salt water and sand and
thought about packing up to leave.

I visited
the toilet which was up a slight hill on a flat area. To my surprise it
consisted of a wooden board about 1m square, set into the ground over a pit, with a
30cm long keyhole-shaped hinged flap in the middle. It did not matter to me
that it was a very exposed position as I was alone but I could not help
thinking how a large group would cope with the inevitable shyness that
surrounds using a bush toilet in the open. There was no smell, no flies, no
mosquitoes. A good toilet.

Just as I was
dismantling the tent I heard what I thought sounded like geese honking in the
distance. As I was not expecting to see geese in a tree I scanned the
foreshore, half expecting to see Cape Barren Geese (fat chance anyway). When I
heard the noise again I looked up into trees across the rivulet and high on a
hill and saw what I then thought were two white cockatoos. But they don’t
honk. Grabbing my field binoculars I discovered to my amazement that there
were two beautiful sea eagles on the same branch, far away.

I stood
watching them for a while, took a photo (which probably will look like two
white dots) and eventually saw what looked like a courtship dance on the
branch. The male (although both looked identical) then tried to land on the
back of the female but he was probably just fooling around! Perhaps she was
playing hard to get. I was hoping
to get a photo of them in flight but when they hadn’t flown by the time 15
minutes had elapsed I decided to get on with my packing. Next time I looked up
they had gone.

I reluctantly
left South Cape Rivulet, having thoroughly enjoyed my stay, at 10.15am and
took with me two supermarket-type bags of rubbish I had gathered at the camp
site and along the beach. I suppose they added between 4 and 5kgs to the
overall weight and made for a very ungainly, uncomfortable walking style. I
wondered how I was going to cope in the muddy, steep track conditions before
Lion Rock.

Progress back
to Lion Rock was slow as I took extra care in the slippery conditions. At Lion
Rock I met more surfers and rested while admiring the view of Lion Rock, a
fishing boat in the area and the warm weather. [I later learned that the
temperature at Geeveston was about 26oC
so it would have been near to that where I was.]

The walk back
to Cockle Creek was uneventful except for being passed by two groups of five
people each who were all heading for Melaleuca. They seemed to be in a tearing
hurry to get there as they were almost running. I suppose they were enjoying
themselves. I felt rather self-conscious as they passed because of my
supermarket bags of "equipment" that would have amused the other walkers.

I reached
Cockle Creek at about 3.10pm (5 hours for the return trip), rang Suzanne to
let her know I was OK, changed into sensible clothes, ate my Snickers Bar and
drank a Coke stored in the car and headed back to Lauderdale.

No injuries
apart from normal soreness around my shoulders and knees and a small blister
near the ball of my left foot. I’ll need to wear different socks for the real
trip I think.